Back in 2008 I found myself inspired by a dress worn by Suri Cruise — who was, at the time, all of two years old — and that made me a little uncomfortable.

Today, I saw a photo of Usher with his two adorable sons, and again I’m feeling a twinge of sartorial inspiration:

See the cognac leather (pleather?) jacket on the little one on the right? That is basically the exact jacket I’ve been looking for for months! And probably in the right size, too — since it’s clearly too big for him, and I am hoping for a shrunken look. (Armed with this photo of Blake Lively, my mom even tried to track down a jacket for me, but was told that cognac was so two seasons ago. “You mean, two seasons from now, right?” I responded.)

Saw this image on the cover of a recent issue of In Touch. I’m not sure which is more hilarious: Britney’s robotic stare, or her bodyguard’s HORROR? (Also adding to the robotic effect: her Fem-Bot-esque nipples!)

(P.S. Lest you think to yourself, “When did Sarah join Twitter and why didn’t she tell me??” I am, in reality, a non-tweeting person—perhaps the last in the country, except maybe my mom—who reads Jezebel’s Tweet Beat: a daily report of amusing or annoying celebrity tweets. It is essentially the best Twitter Spark Notes a gal like me could ask for.)

Last December I saw this necklace on the Banana Republic website while looking for Christmas gifts for my mom and sister:

I thought it was so unusual and unlike any necklace I had seen before, although I did find it to be a bit too gaudy, and it was pretty expensive, too. The main reason it stuck in my head, though, was that it looked like something I could make myself! (To my preferred level of gaudiness, of course.) It’s no longer available on BananaRepublic.com, but today, while watching Monday’s episode of Castle, I noticed something cool:

Castle’s mom wearing the exact same necklace! It’s such a great pick for her character: big, gaudy, theatrical, and totally over the top. Well done, costume department!

Ever since I became a semi-employed college graduate last summer, I have been watching “What Not To Wear” with a near-religious fervor. It started in August when my mom was recovering from back surgery, and I was spending entire days at home taking care of her. I cooked and read and did laundry and dishes, yes, but what I really did was perfect my TV watching schedule, which included a Monday through Friday rerun of “WNTW” at 12 pm each day. This pattern continued into the fall and through the spring, and though it will be put on hold for the foreseeable future (thanks to my new job!), there’s always the 5 pm reruns to keep the addiction alive.

If you have watched this show more than a handful of times, you’re probably familiar with the flow of each episode, which begins with: introduction of fashion victim plus some sample secret footage; Stacey and Clinton critiquing said footage; and then an ambush on the victim, complete with a smiling, clapping, laughing group of friends, family, and nominator(s). I didn’t realize how crucial that last part—the enthusiastic accomplices—was to the feel of the ambush scene until I watched an episode from way back in 2003 (Season 2 of the show), when Stacey actually wore an animal-print cowboy hat: the makeover of Niya Battles.

I wish I could find a clip of Niya’s ambush on YouTube, because her family’s reaction, or lack thereof, is so incredibly awkward that it actually made me uncomfortable. Stacey and Clinton found Niya at a family barbeque, and through the entire “Surprise! We’re from TLC’s What Not To Wear!” process, the rest of Niya’s family just sat silently in lawn chairs. Not even her nominator was enthusiastic enough to get out of her chair. The whole scene just felt like two mean people picking on a poor defenseless girl, not the “we’re doing this because we love you and want to change your life” feel that the scene typically has. Once the show moved on past the barbeque the episode ran smoothly and normally—and Niya did receive an enthusiastic welcome-home from her family at the end of the episode—but that first scene almost spoiled the whole episode for me.

Note to TLC: I’m glad you’ve learned something since Season 2. This show needs its accomplices!

After a friend posted the image he had created on a create-your-own-avatar website, I decided to upload photos of me and my boyfriend and see what we would look like if we were nine feet tall and, well, blue-skinned:

I think mine looks more like me than his looks like him, but maybe that’s just the mullet dreadlocks talking.